Interactive experience sharing and evaluation system and method having highly customizable individual security level settings

ABSTRACT

An interactive experience sharing and evaluation system is implemented through a website in one easy step. Users submit information in the form of journal entries about experiences they have had, which can include photos, videos, a rating, and comments with varying privacy levels. Other users can search through these journal entries according to their security access level and add their own information, rating, comments, etc. Users also can provide personal information and search through and connect with other users and communicate with one another regarding submitted experiences. Users construct a dream-list of desired future experiences and set up ongoing searches for new information submitted regarding the users&#39; interests. Custom information is provided to users on the basis of the contents of their dream-lists, and include advertisements.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/252,666, filed Oct. 4, 2011 which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/389,673, filed Oct. 4, 2010, which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Numerous social networking sites have come into existence in recentyears. However, these sites have many limitations.

Needs exist for improved systems for integrated planning, cataloging,sharing, discussing, and searching of activities and experiences, forprecisely controlling access to the activities and experiences, and fororganizing and storing such activities and experiences and relatedinformation and relationships. Needs exist for improved systems forbringing together active enthusiasts of all kinds and catering to theirneeds and interests.

SUMMARY

It is to be understood that both the following summary and the detaileddescription are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to providefurther explanation of the invention as claimed. Neither the summary northe description that follows is intended to define or limit the scope ofthe invention to the particular features mentioned in the summary or inthe description. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined by theappended claims.

In certain embodiments, the disclosed embodiments may include one ormore of the features described herein.

An interactive experience sharing and evaluation system is implementedthrough a website. Users submit information about experiences they havehad, which can include photos, videos, a rating, and comments withvarying privacy levels. Other users can search through this informationand add their own information, rating, comments, etc. Users also canprovide personal information and search through and connect with otherusers and communicate with one another regarding submitted experiences.Users construct a dream-list of desired future experiences and set upongoing searches for new information submitted regarding the users'interests. In some embodiments custom information is provided to userson the basis of the contents of their dream-list, and includesadvertisements. This information in some embodiments is provideddirectly through the website and in other embodiments is provided bythird parties through or outside of the website.

All of a user's photos and videos can be uploaded to the site andmanaged in a central location. Advanced search features allow a user toquickly retrieve the photos and videos they are looking for later. Thus,a user no longer needs to worry about keeping these treasuredphotographs and videos on a physical device vulnerable to damage andloss or about losing track of individual photos and videos scattered indifferent websites, physical media, etc.

A user can submit information about an event or activity—which may be avacation, an activity lived or performed (scuba diving, para-sailing,rock climbing, going to the beach, etc.) a location visited, or anotherlife experience like getting a driver's license, getting married, goingout on the town, eating at a restaurant, taking a class, etc. Theinformation can include details like location, cost, rating, type ofactivity, etc., as well as photographs, videos, links and the like. Theinformation can be submitted in the form of a journal entry, creating arecord of an event that has already taken place, as an event scheduledto take place in the future, or as a dream list entry, which detailsactivities or experiences the user would like to have at an indefinitepoint in the future.

The user can easily transform such information from one category toanother—for example from a dream list entry to a scheduled event, from ascheduled event to a journal entry, or from a scheduled event back to adream list entry, as activities are planned, take place, or arecanceled. The information can be updated, modified and added to duringthe transformation. When an event is created, other (selected) users canbe invited to participate in the activity.

This information is made available to other users to view and searchthrough according to the security settings assigned by the user for eachindividual entry. The user can easily designate which users can vieweach element of the information submitted. For example, one set of usersmay be able to see certain videos while only a different set of userscan see other videos, as set by the submitting user, although both setsof users are viewing information about the same activity or experience.In certain embodiments, during the process of entering the informationfor submission, fields are presented to the user that correspond tovarious security levels, for example sharing with friends and sharingwith communities or globally. Each field may then be customized, forexample the field for sharing with friends may be limited to selectedfriends. The user enters information into each field as appropriate.Thus, there can be a single entry including a variety of informationunder a variety of security settings, all of which can be established ina single simple step. In various embodiments, different numbers offields are available, corresponding to different security settings, andthe level of available customization of the fields varies, for examplethere may be no customization or each field may be completelycustomizable. This ability to easily submit information groupedtogether, but with each individual element having its own securitysettings, powerfully addresses the growing need for privacy controls inonline interaction.

The process of setting which users can see which elements is made easierin some embodiments by a variety of organizational tools. A user can addother users as friends and group those friends as desired withoutlimitation, and then choose to share certain elements with thosepre-organized groups. A user can choose to be associated with acommunity (for example, dedicated to scuba diving, or Australia, etc.)and then permit all users associated with that community to view certainelements of information.

The user can search through and view information submitted by otherusers and, upon seeing an activity or experience that the user has hadin the past, has scheduled for the future, or is interested in having inthe future, can transform that other user's information into the user'sown journal entry, event, or dream list entry, as appropriate. The usercan modify and add to the information at the time of transformation. Theuser can easily search for activities of interest by searching in agiven location or for a certain type of activity and sorting by costand/or rating, can search within cost, rating, or geographical ranges,can search or organize search results by community members and specificusers or groups of users, and by a variety of other criteria. The userwill be able to view a wide variety of activities falling within thedesired search criteria with incredible detail to best plan their futureactivities. The site will ultimately create the world's largest databaseof autobiographies. A user may search for the entries of a specificperson, for example a celebrity, relative, or friend. If desired, userscan make this autobiographical information freely available to otherusers.

Users can interact with the information submitted by other users in avariety of ways, for example by commenting on them (with text or avideo, photo, or link for example), by rating them, or by indicatingapproval (for example, clicking a “Like” button). The interaction ofother users is visible to the same people as the element or entry thatis being commented on. In some embodiments, the interacting users canchoose for the interactions to be visible to a subset of the users whocan see the element or entry that was commented on. When a userinteracts with the information, the user who originally submitted theinformation is notified of the interaction, and the interaction appearson a main page for the user for the user's review. Along with theinteraction is all of he originally submitted information, which isexpandable/collapsible. Initially, this information is contracted totake up less space on the user's main page, but expands on demand sothat a user can understand the context of the interaction immediately,even if some time has passed since the original material was submitted.The interaction and originally submitted information may also bedisplayed this way to other users, for example other users who haveinteracted with the originally submitted information.

When a user creates an event or dream list entry, targetedadvertisements may be directed to the user for products that might behelpful to the user for that event or dream list entry. For example,baseball equipment might be advertised for an upcoming baseball game,rock-climbing equipment for a rock-climbing expedition, etc. Thistargeting can be tailored over time based on user response rates tovarious advertisements for various types of events and entries, as wellas based on the user's personal information if any, other journalentries, events, and dream list entries, etc.

Adding desired experiences to a dream list helps a user to remember allthe things they have seen or heard about that they thought to themselvesthey would one day like to experience. It can serve as a “bucket list.”It keeps the user's dreams together in one place, in a vivid format thatmay include accompanying pictures and videos from others who have livedthat dream. This keeps the dreams in the user's mind, as do customadvertisements tailored for the various dreams, motivating the user andmaking the user more likely to one day achieve those dreams. The dreamsbeing available to other users/the public also motivates the user toturn those dreams into a reality and convert them into journal entries(or events). Seeing previous experiences in journal entries can alsomotivate the user to achieve other goals and dreams. The site thusserves as an effective motivational and self-help tool.

In a new method, information related to experiences and activities isreceived from a user, information received from the user is stored on anon-transitory computer-readable medium and associated with the userfrom which it was received, the information related to experiences andactivities received from the user is displayed to other users,information is received from another user related to the displayedinformation related to experiences and activities, stored, associatewith the displayed information related to experiences and activities,and displayed to users. The received information related to experiencesand activities is categorized and displayed in a first category forexperiences and activities indicated to have already taken place, in asecond category for experiences and activities indicated to be takingplace at a definite time in the future, and in a third category forexperiences and activities indicated not to have taken place and nothaving been scheduled for any definite time in the future. Informationis received from the user indicating that information related to anexperience or activity has moved from one category to another, theinformation is re-categorized accordingly, and the information ismodified or added to as part of the re-categorization process.Information associated with the user in one category is converted intoinformation associated with a second user in a second category, and theinformation is modified or added to as part of the conversion process.

These methods may be carried out by software modules programmed on aserver. The software modules may together make up one or more programsand the various steps of the method may be carried out by varioussoftware modules. For example, there may be a single software module foreach step, or a single software module may carry out multiple steps.Users may access the program via an Internet connection and web browseras discussed below in detail.

Advertising information may be transmitted to the user related to storedinformation associated with the user. The stored information receivedfrom users may include multiple elements, and a security levelassociated with each element may be received, where the security leveldictates which other users the information can be displayed to. Theinformation received from the other user related to the displayedinformation related to experiences and activities may be displayed onlyto users the displayed information related to experiences and activitiescan be displayed to, as specified by the associated security level. Anindication may be received from two users that they desire to beassociated as friends of one another and the two users may be associatedas friends and an indication may be received from the user that the userdesires to be associated with a community and the user may be associatedwith the community. The security level may allow the associated elementto be displayed to either a) only the user, b) only the user or theuser's specified friends or groups of friends, c) only the user or theuser's friends, d) only the user, the user's friends, or members ofspecified communities the user is associated with, e) only the user, theuser's friends, or members of communities the user is associated with,or f) all users.

The user's friends may be organized into groups received from the user,and each of the user's friends may be members of one or more of thegroups. The information received from the other user related to thedisplayed information related to experiences and activities may bedisplayed only to a subset of the users the displayed informationrelated to experiences and activities can be displayed to, as specifiedby the associated security level, wherein the subset is received fromthe other user. The information related to experiences and activitiesmay include videos, photographs, comments, locations, costs, andratings. Public and private messages may be transmitted between users. Auser query may be received including search terms and one or moreresults categories and stored information related to experiences andactivities relevant to terms of the query, viewable by the user, andfalling under the results categories received may be displayed. Thesearch terms may include one or more of the following: location, type ofexperience or activity, cost, and rating. The information from anotheruser related to the displayed information related to experiences andactivities is displayed to the user on a main website page together withthe information related to experiences and activities inexpandable/collapsible form.

In a new method, information related to an experience or activity istransmitted, including the date on which it occurred, the date for whichit is planned, or that it has not occurred or been planned, to a centralcomputing device over a network for storing and sharing with otherusers, transmitted information is updated to reflect that a scheduledexperience or activity has taken place or been canceled, or to reflectthat an experience or activity with no associated date has beenscheduled or has taken place, information submitted by another userregarding the transmitted information is received and viewed,information submitted by other users pertaining to their experiences andactivities is viewed, and information submitted by another userpertaining to the other user's experience or activity is viewed on agraphical user interface, the information is added or modified on thegraphical user interface so that the information pertains to the user'sown experience or activity, including whether and when the experience oractivity took place or is scheduled, and the information is transmittedto the central computing device over a network for storing and sharingwith other users.

The transmitted information related to an experience or activity mayinclude multiple elements, and a security level associated with eachelement is transmitted, where the security level dictates which otherusers can view the information. Information relating to informationsubmitted by another user pertaining to the other user's experience oractivity is transmitted for sharing with other users. A friend requestfrom another user is accepted and a request may be made to be associatedwith a community. The security level may allow the associated element tobe displayed to either a) only the user transmitting the associatedelement, b) only the user transmitting the associated element or theuser's specified friends or groups of friends, c) only the usertransmitting the associated element or the user's friends, d) only theuser transmitting the associated element, the user's friends, or membersof specified communities the user is associated with, e) only the usertransmitting the associated element, the user's friends, or members ofcommunities the user is associated with, or f) all users.

Friends may be organized into one or more groups, and each friend may bea member of one or more of the groups. A user query including searchterms and one or more results categories may be transmitted andinformation submitted by another user pertaining to the other user'sexperience or activity related to experiences and activities relevant toterms of the query and falling under the results categories transmittedreceived, where the search terms include one or more of the following:location, type of experience or activity, cost, and rating.

A new system includes a processor and a memory containing softwaremodules, which, when executed by the processor, are configured toperform operations, the operations comprising: receiving from usersinformation related to experiences and activities, storing informationreceived from users on a non-transitory computer-readable medium andassociating it with the users from which it was received, displaying theinformation received from users to other users, receiving informationfrom other users related to the displayed information, storing it,associating it with the displayed information, and displaying it tousers, categorizing and displaying the received information related toexperiences and activities in a first category for experiences andactivities indicated to have already taken place, in a second categoryfor experiences and activities indicated to be taking place at adefinite time in the future, and in a third category for experiences andactivities indicated not to have taken place and not having beenscheduled for any definite time in the future, receiving informationfrom a user indicating that information related to an experience oractivity has moved from one category to another, re-categorizing theinformation accordingly, and modifying or adding to the information aspart of the re-categorization process, and converting informationassociated with one user in one category into information associatedwith a second user in a second category, and modifying or adding to theinformation as part of the conversion process.

A new computer-readable storage medium includes a program, which whenexecuted on a processor performs an operation, the operation comprising:receiving from users information related to experiences and activities,storing information received from users on a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium and associating it with the users from which itwas received, displaying the information received from users to otherusers, receiving information from other users related to the displayedinformation, storing it, associating it with the displayed information,and displaying it to users, categorizing and displaying the receivedinformation related to experiences and activities in a first categoryfor experiences and activities indicated to have already taken place, ina second category for experiences and activities indicated to be takingplace at a definite time in the future, and in a third category forexperiences and activities indicated not to have taken place and nothaving been scheduled for any definite time in the future, receivinginformation from a user indicating that information related to anexperience or activity has moved from one category to another,re-categorizing the information accordingly, and modifying or adding tothe information as part of the re-categorization process, and convertinginformation associated with one user in one category into informationassociated with a second user in a second category, and modifying oradding to the information as part of the conversion process.

These and further and other objects and features of the invention areapparent in the disclosure, which includes the above and ongoing writtenspecification, with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a partof the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, togetherwith the description, further serve to enable a person skilled in thepertinent art to make and use these embodiments and others that will beapparent to those skilled in the art. The invention will be moreparticularly described in conjunction with the following drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a My World webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a My Profile webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the My World webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a Community webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a My Friends Group webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a My Friends webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a My Communities webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a My Journal webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a My Journal View webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a My Journal View webpage, in an embodiment.

FIGS. 11-17 are diagrams showing a step-by-step process for creating aNew Journal Entry, in an embodiment.

FIGS. 18-24 are diagrams showing a step-by-step process for creating aDream entry, in an embodiment.

FIG. 25 shows a My Photo Albums View webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 26 shows a My Photos View webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 27 shows a journal photo slide show website pop-up, in anembodiment.

FIG. 28 shows an Add Pictures website pop-up, in an embodiment.

FIG. 29 shows a My Video Albums View webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 30 shows a My Videos View webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 31 shows a journal video view website pop-up, in an embodiment.

FIG. 32 shows an Add Videos website pop-up, in an embodiment.

FIG. 33 shows a Search webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 34 shows a My Calendar Events home webpage, in an embodiment.

FIG. 35 shows a My Event Calendar Day webpage, in an embodiment.

FIGS. 36-42 show an Event Creation website pop-up, in an embodiment.

FIG. 43 shows a Likes View website pop-up box, in an embodiment.

FIG. 44 is a flowchart illustrating a login webpage process, in anembodiment.

FIG. 45 is a flowchart illustrating a website process for logging in.

FIG. 46 is a flowchart illustrating a website registration process, inan embodiment.

FIG. 47 is a flowchart illustrating a website user profile page process,in an embodiment.

FIG. 48 is a flowchart illustrating a process for a website back-endadministration, in an embodiment.

FIG. 49 is a flowchart illustrating a website My Journal process, in anembodiment.

FIGS. 50-54 are flowcharts illustrating a website process for creating ajournal entry, in an embodiment.

FIG. 55 is a flowchart illustrating a website process for otherinteractive activities 5500, in an embodiment.

FIG. 56 is a flowchart illustrating a website dream-lists process, in anembodiment.

FIGS. 57-61 are flowcharts illustrating a website process for creating adream-list entry, in an embodiment.

FIG. 62 is a flowchart illustrating a website process for otherinteractive activities, in an embodiment.

FIG. 63 is a flowchart illustrating a website events page process, in anembodiment.

FIGS. 64-68 are flowcharts illustrating a website process for creating adream list entry, in an embodiment.

FIG. 69 is a flowchart illustrating a website process for otherinteractive event activities, in an embodiment.

FIG. 70 is a flowchart illustrating a website process for bit sharing,in an embodiment.

FIG. 71 is a flowchart illustrating a shop website process, in anembodiment.

FIG. 72 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computingenvironment, in an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An interactive experience sharing and evaluation system and method willnow be disclosed in terms of various exemplary embodiments. Thisspecification discloses one or more embodiments that incorporatefeatures of the invention. The embodiment(s) described, and referencesin the specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an exampleembodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) described may includea particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Such phrases are notnecessarily referring to the same embodiment. When a particular feature,structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anembodiment, persons skilled in the art may effect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described.

In the several figures, like reference numerals may be used for likeelements having like functions even in different drawings. Theembodiments described, and their detailed construction and elements, aremerely provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of theinvention. Thus, it is apparent that the present invention can becarried out in a variety of ways, and does not require any of thespecific features described herein. Also, well-known functions orconstructions are not described in detail since they would obscure theinvention with unnecessary detail. It will of course be appreciated thatin the development of any such actual embodiment, numerousimplementation-specific decisions may be made to achieve the developers'specific goals, such as compliance with system-related andbusiness-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation toanother. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effortmight be complex and time-consuming, but may nevertheless be a routineundertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure.

It will be understood that the particular website layouts shown in thescreenshots below are exemplary only. The positioning of the variousitems can be altered as desired, and some items and functions may beadded, deleted or altered within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention, as defined in the appended claims.

In an exemplary embodiment of a new website-implemented system, usersregister and create profiles in order to interact with other like mindedenthusiasts. The website is configured to allow users to submit variousinformation for viewing and comment by other users and to select thelevel of security applied to information they submit, limiting viewingto the entire community, their friends, or only themselves. Users cansubmit information about any experience, for example visits tocountries, cities, landmarks, museums, tourist destinations,geographical features like mountains, lakes, and rivers, parks,restaurants, or other activities or establishments, particularly for theactive minded enthusiast, as well as other experiences and memories orvictories such as taking a certain test or attending a certain school ortraining program.

The information includes some identifier indicating the nature of theexperience and, at the user's option, various other data includingphotos and videos of the experience, a date and the user's comments andratings. The website is configured to allow other users, if the securitylevel selected allows them to view these experiences, to add their owncomments, rating, and/or other related information. The originalsubmitter of the information can then respond to the other users ifdesired, allowing discussion and further exploration of the experience.Users can also connect with other users who have submitted informationof interest to them, allowing them to further discuss that informationand to be notified of future submissions by that user.

Users can search through the information submitted by other users by anumber of criteria, and can establish automated and continuing searchesfor experiences related to their interests. For example, someoneinterested in whitewater rafting might set up an ongoing search to alertthem of any new submissions related to whitewater rafting.

The website is configured to allow different submissions to beexplicitly linked, for example where there are multiple submissionsregarding a single place, in order for users to more easily find relatedreviews when interested in learning more about a particular experience.Related submissions are displayed when one of the submissions is viewedby a user.

Users can add various experiences submitted by other users to theirdream-list, which generally constitutes a list of activities they wouldlike to experience. They can set up a search that brings new submissionsrelated to the experiences on their dream-list to their attention.Advertisements are also targeted to users on the basis of theirdream-list, allowing the users to receive special offers for things theusers have already indicated they would like to do.

The figures are screen shots of an example website implementation of aninteractive experience sharing and evaluation system.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a My World page 100. This is the first page auser sees after logging in. The page includes a top navigation bar 102,left User's Navigation List box 104, Recent Alpha Activities or bits box120, and right side User's Calendar 122, Alpha Events 124, and FeaturedAlpha Products 126 boxes. Global navigation links 128 allow a user to godirectly to this home page, to the login page, or to the user's shoppingcart. The top navigation bar 102 includes direct links to User's MyWorld 108, My Journal 110, My Dream-List 112, My Events 114, and My Shop116 pages, as well as search box 118. My World Box 104 includes profilepicture 105 and user profile links 106 to pages for My Profile, MyActivities/bits, My Journals, My Dream-List, My Photos, My Videos, MyEvents, My Communities, My Friends, My Shopping Cart, My Dream-List,Alpha Products, My Messages, and to Log out. User's calendar displaysthe current months' calendar, with buttons for scrolling through themonths, and a user can move the mouse over a date to view a pop-up box130 containing the day's events. My Events box 124 contains a list ofselected upcoming events 132 with associated icons 133. Featured MyProducts According to User's Activity Preferences box 126 contains alist of selected products for sale 134 with associated pictures 135.

Recent My Activities or Bits box 120 displays information that thelogged-in user or that user's friends or community members have shared.At the top are buttons/fields 136, 138, 140, 142, 144 for sharing. Firstthe user selects whether to share a video, photo, text, or link from theselection bar 136. Here, Video is selected and a field 138 below allowsa user to enter the location of the video. The user can press button 140to browse his or her computer's contents to find the location of thedesired video. The privacy selector 142 allows the user to choosewhether to share the video with the general public, with members ofcommunities the user is a member of and with friends, just with friends,or to “share” it only with the user—for example to create a digitalarchive of the material. Finally, the user selects share button 144 toshare the material as selected (which is then submitted and distributedin one easy operation).

Three tabs allow a user to view only his or her own shared activities(My Activities tab 146), activities shared by friends (FriendsActivities tab 148) or activities shared by community members (CommunityActivities 150). The selected activities are displayed below. As shown,the most recent activity displayed is another user's comment 152 (calleda Bit) on this user's shared activity, showing that user's profilepicture and the date and time of the comment.

The activity the user commented on, here a picture 156 is displayedbelow, along with the rating 164 for the picture, number of comments158, number of users who indicated they like the picture, 160, and abutton 162 for the user to rate the picture. The comments (Bits) 166,168 are shown below the picture 156. A user may add their own comment tothe list by typing it into the comment box 170. Collapse button 154allows a user to collapse/hide the picture 156 and comments 166, 168,leaving only the notification 152 that a comment has been written aboutthe information and freeing up space in the Recent Activities box 120for other recent activities.

The number of feeds indicated in 172 shows new information that a userhas not viewed as yet, for example when a friend posts a new My Journal,Photo or Video or even a comment on any Journal, Photo album, Photo,Video Album, or Video. For example the “1” notification 172 next to theMy Journal link in the top navigation bar 102 indicates one new entry onthe My Journal page that the user has not yet viewed.

Of course in alternative embodiments, the page may have a differentlayout, with the boxes having varying locations and using various tagsand titles for the various components. In some embodiments, the setup ofthe page is user-selected or user-influenced, with individual users ableto customize, partially or completely, what information appears on thehome page and/or where it appears. This is true of all the pagesdescribed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a My Profile page 200. The layout is the samewhen a user views another user's profile page. In that case, theinformation displayed is based on the security level chosen by that userwhen creating his or her profile (or at a later date). This page isarrived at by selecting the My Profile link from the left My World box.Top navigation bar 102, left My World box 104, User's Calendar box 122,My Events box 124 and global links 128 remain from the home page 100.Replacing the Recent My Activities box 120 in the center of the page isprofile box 202, containing the user's name 204, Personal Information206 such as employment, education, relationship status, birthday andanniversary, Contact Information 208 such as address, phone numbers andemail addresses, and Favorite Activities and Interests 210. Edit buttons212 allow the user to edit their profile information. In this page,bottom global links 214 are also shown, which may also be present in anyof the other pages described. The links include About Us, SiteMap, andContact Us.

In various embodiments, the information in the profile box 202 ispartially or completely user customizable, with users able to constructtheir own categories of information as well as the particular types ofinformation.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the My World page of another user 300. This pageis reached when a user clicks on the picture of another user in the site(which appears for example next to their comments/Bits). Top navigationbar 102, left My World box 104, User's Calendar box 122, My Events box124 and global links 128 remain from the home page 100. Replacing theRecent My Activities box 120 in the center of the page is User's RecentActivities box (where “User” is the name of the user whose picture wasclicked on), which has the same features as the Recent My Activities box120 except that rather than showing Activities relevant to the user, itshows Activities relevant to the other user.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a Community page 400. A Community page may bereached by clicking on the name of the community in a user's MyCommunities page or from a search. In some embodiments, communities aredesigned as users with limited privileges, which unlike other userscannot have friends or members, and cannot be added to users' Friendslists. Instead, communities are added as one of a user's favorites bythe user clicking “Add to my Community List” from the Community page.The website may be designed such that when My Activity or Journal Entryis shared in Recent My Activities box 120 or Journal box 800 and thesharing level is set to global, the activity must be tagged to acommunity. The activity will be tagged and associated with either auser-selected community or, if none is selected, a community related tothe subject matter of the activity.

On this page, top navigation bar 102, and global links 128 remain fromthe home page 100 as well as bottom global links 214. Replacing theRecent My Activities box 120 in the center of the page is Recent ScubaActivities box 420, which has the same features as the Recent MyActivities box 120 except that rather than showing Activities relevantto the user, it shows Activities relevant to the Community (here,Scuba). Similarly, left My World box 104 is replaced with ScubaCommunity box 404, which has scuba links 406 to Community Journals,Community Dream-lists, Community Photos, Community Videos, CommunityEvents, and Community Messages, as well as Add to My Community Listbutton 407.

Replacing User's Calendar box 122 is a Scuba Community Calendar box 422,replacing the Featured My Products box 126 is Scuba Products box 426with scuba-themed items for sale.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a My Friends Group page 500, reached for exampleby selecting the My Friends link from the left My World box 104. Thecentral box is now a My Friends Group box 502 which has a dropdownfriends group selector 504 for viewing friends according to groups.Friends in some embodiments can be freely sorted into user-definedgroups (here, a “My Best Friends” group is shown) and may also beautomatically sorted into groups according to community membership orany other criteria, for example country of residence, age, hobbies, etc.See All Friends button 506 displays all friends regardless of group, andFind more Friends button 508 leads to a new interface for the user tofind additional friends, for example searching by characteristics suchas employment, education, activities, interests, hometown, emailaddress, name, etc.

The list of friends shown gives some information about each friend, forexample name, age, residence, profile picture. Delete button 512 allowsthe user to delete a given friend, removing that friend from the user'slist of friends.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a My Friends page 600, reached for example byselecting the See All Friends button 506 on My Friends Group page 500.The central box is now a My Friends box 602 that displays all the user'sfriends in alphabetical order. In some embodiments, the displayedfriends can be sorted by various attributes—e.g. length of “friendship”,age, location, community membership, etc. Search Friends button 604allows the user to search through the friends by various attributes.Group View button 606 returns the user to the My Friends Group page 500.Alphabet bar 608 allows the user to jump to a given letter in thealphabet in the list of friends. Add to Group button 610 allows the userto add the friend, which may be a non-grouped friend, to a user-definedor automatically created friends group.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a My Communities page 700, reached for example byselecting the My Communities link from the left My World box 104. Thecentral box is now a My Communities box 702 that displays the user'sfavorite communities in alphabetical order. The user can jump to a givenletter in the list with alphabet bar 708. Summary details 710 are shownfor the listed communities, such as name, number of members, time oflast activity, and community profile picture. Search communities button704 allows the user to search through his or her favorite communities byvarious criteria, and Find more communities button 706 allows the userto search through all communities by various criteria for additionalcommunities of interest.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a My Journal page 800, reached for example byselecting the My Journal link from the top navigation bar 102, whichdisplays all the My Journal Entries posted by the user, in thisembodiment sorted by time and date and privacy level. The central boxnow shows journal entries, divided into My Journal Entries 808 (journalentries submitted by the user), My Friends Journal Entries 810 (journalentries submitted by the user's friends), and Global Journal Entries 812(journal entries submitted by other users but made available for globalviewing). Expand buttons 816 and contract buttons 818 hide or displaythe contents of each given section, in order to provide room for theentries in the other sections.

On the left, navigation box 802 contains the user's profile picture anda link 806 for writing a new My Journal entry. Search box 804 allows auser to search through the available journals based on date ranges,activity, country, and city, and in other embodiments by other criteriaas well.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a My Journal View page 900, reached for exampleby clicking on one of the user's own journal entries on the My Journalpage 800. The central box now provides information about the journalentry provided by the user, while on the right is a More about thisLocation box 904 and Current Climatic Condition box 906 with currentweather information. The central box information includes entry name 902and summary details, event pictures 910 and event videos 912 andcomments 914. Comment field 916 allows the users to add a comment. Addto My Dream-List button 908 allows a user viewing and linking thisjournal entry to move the journal entry to his or her personalDream-List. Tabs Myself 918, My Friends 920 and Global 922 allow theuser to toggle between information (Pictures, Videos, etc.) viewableonly by the user, only by the user or the user's friends, and by anyone,respectively. The privacy level can be set for the information at thetime of submission. By toggling, the user can easily verify what will beseen by each type of viewer.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a My Journal View page 1000, reached for exampleby clicking on a journal entry by another user on the My Journal page800. It differs from My Journal View page 900 in that the toggle tabsare no longer visible and the user can only see the information with aprivacy setting appropriate to that user, for example if the user is afriend of the user submitting the journal entry, he or she can see theinformation made available to friends but not any information madeavailable only to the submitting user.

FIGS. 11-17 are diagrams showing a step-by-step process for creating aNew Journal Entry. This process is initiated for example by selectingthe “Add a New Journal Entry” link 806 from My Journal page 800. FIG. 11shows the first step in the process. Pop-up Creating a My Journal Entrybox 1102 appears, with process stages bar 1104, which shows the steps increating a journal entry (entering journal details, setting sharinglevel(s), uploading photos, uploading videos, and previewing andsubmitting) and the current step. Journal details fields 1106 allow auser to enter information such as activity date, location, type ofactivity, cost, city, state, and country, weather conditions, andrating. Save & Continue button 1108 saves this information and continuesto the next step. Cancel button 1110 closes the pop-up box and returnsto the page 800.

FIG. 12 shows the second step in the process. Here, the user chooseswhether to add information for the general public 1202, just for friends1204, and/or just for his or herself 1206 by checking the box 1208 nextto each category he or she wishes to add. When a box 1208 is checked, acorresponding text field 1210 appears for the user to input theinformation. Bullet selectors 1212 allow a user to decide whether globalinformation 1202 is shared with all the user's communities or onlyselected communities, and whether friends information 1203 is sharedwith all the user's friends or only selected friends. Back button 1214returns the user to step 1 as shown in FIG. 11, while Save & Continuebutton 1216 proceeds to the next step.

FIG. 13 shows the My Communities pop-up box 1302 that is displayed whena user indicates that the global information submitted is to be sharedonly with selected communities. A list of the user's communities 1308 isdisplayed, along with a Search Communities button 1304 for searchingthrough the communities by various criteria and an indication 1306 ofthe number of communities selected so far. The Back button 1310 returnsto the pop-up box of FIG. 12 while Save & Continue button 1312 proceeds.

FIG. 14 shows the My Friends pop-up box 1402 that is displayed when auser indicates that the friends information submitted is to be sharedonly with selected friends. A list of the user's friends 1408 isdisplayed, along with a Search Friends button 1404 for searching throughthe friends or groups by various criteria and an indication 1406 of thenumber of friends selected so far. The Back button 1410 returns to thepop-up box of FIG. 12 while Save & Continue button 1412 proceeds.

FIG. 15 shows the third step in the process. Here, the user uploadspictures for viewing globally 1502, by friends 1504, and/or only by theuser 1506. The picture files are selected with input field and browsebutton 1510 and selecting the upload button 1514 begins the upload, atwhich time the input field and browse button 1510 become status bar 1508and upload button 1514 becomes cancel button 1512 for canceling theupload in progress. Rating 1516 allows the user to give the uploadedpictures ratings.

FIG. 16 shows the fourth step in the process. The user can upload videosfor viewing from the user's PC 1602 or from a video sharing website1604. The video file is selected using input field 1608 and browsebutton 1610, and a sharing level is selected using the Select a SharingLevel dropdown 1606 (Global, Friends, Myself). A rating is applied tothe video with rating 1612 and selecting the Add button 1614 uploads thevideo.

FIG. 17 shows the fifth and final step in the process, where a user canpreview the journal entry as it will appear to other users, using thetabs 1718,1720,1722 to toggle between viewers at different privacylevels. Finally clicking on 1716 Saves and Submits/Distributes theentire Journal Entry in one easy step.

FIGS. 18-24 are diagrams showing a step-by-step process for creating MyDream entry. These steps are generally synonymous to the steps forcreating a My Journal entry shown in FIGS. 11-17. Users placeexperiences/activities of interest on their dream list in order toremember what they are for future reference. For example, a userbrowsing the site may come across an interesting activity, but may notbe planning a vacation for six months or more, during which time theymight normally forget the activity they had read about. By clicking 908and placing it on the dream-list, they would be able to remember theexperiences when the time comes to plan an activity. Having interestingexperiences gathered in a list also makes it easier for the user to seenew information submitted by users about those experiences.

FIG. 18 shows the first step in the process. Pop-up Creating a My DreamEntry box 1802 appears, with process stages bar 1804, which shows thesteps in creating a dream entry (entering dream details, setting sharinglevel(s), uploading photos, uploading videos, and previewing andsubmitting) and the current step. Dream details fields 1806 allow a userto enter information such as activity date, location, type of activity,cost, city, state, and country, weather conditions, and rating. Save &Continue button 1808 saves those details and continues to the next step.Cancel button 1810 closes the pop-up box and returns to the page.

FIG. 19 shows the second step in the process. Here, the user chooseswhether to add information for the general public 1902, just for friends1904, and/or just for his or herself 1906 by checking the box 1908 nextto each category he or she wishes to add. When a box 1908 is checked, acorresponding text field 1910 appears for the user to input theinformation. Bullet selectors 1912 allow a user to decide whether globalinformation 1902 is shared with all the user's communities or onlyselected communities, and whether friends information 1904 is sharedwith all the user's friends or only selected friends. Back button 1914returns the user to step 1 as shown in FIG. 18, while Save & Continuebutton 1916 proceeds to the next step.

FIG. 20 shows the My Communities pop-up box 2002 that is displayed whena user indicates that the global information submitted is to be sharedonly with selected communities. A list of the user's communities 2008 isdisplayed, along with a Search Communities button 2004 for searchingthrough the communities by various criteria and an indication 2006 ofthe number of communities selected so far. The Back button 2010 returnsto the pop-up box of FIG. 19 while Save & Continue button 2012 proceeds.

FIG. 21 shows the My Friends pop-up box 2102 that is displayed when auser indicates that the friends information submitted is to be sharedonly with selected friends. A list of the user's friends 2108 isdisplayed, along with a Search Friends button 2104 for searching throughthe friends by various criteria and an indication 2106 of the number offriends selected so far. The Back button 2110 returns to the pop-up boxof FIG. 19 while Save & Continue button 2112 proceeds.

FIG. 22 shows the third step in the process. Here, the user uploadspictures for viewing globally 2202, by friends 2204, and/or only by theuser 2206. The picture files are selected with input field and browsebutton 2210 and selecting the upload button 2214 begins the upload, atwhich time the input field and browse button 2210 become status bar 2208and upload button 2214 becomes cancel button 2212 for canceling theupload in progress. Rating 2216 allows the user to give the uploadedpictures ratings.

FIG. 23 shows the fourth step in the process. The user can upload videosfor viewing from the user's PC 2302 or from a video sharing website2304. The video file is selected using input field 2308 and browsebutton 2310, and a sharing level is selected using the Select a SharingLevel dropdown 2306 (Global, Friends, Myself). A rating is applied tothe video with rating 2312 and selecting the Add button 2314 uploads thevideo.

FIG. 24 shows the fifth and final step in the process, where a user canpreview the dream entry as it will appear to other users, using the tabs2418, 2420, 2422 to toggle between viewers at different privacy levels,and submit the dream entry to the website. Finally clicking on 2416Saves and Submits/Distributes the entire Dream Entry in one easy step.

FIG. 25 shows a My Photo Albums View page 2500, reached for example byselecting the My Photos link from the left My World box 104. The mainbox is now My Photo Albums box 2502, showing the user's photo albums2504 with summary information such as name, date, rating, and arepresentative picture for each album. In this figure, the user isviewing his or her own photo albums, so each album has a delete buttonfor removing the album. When viewing another user's photo albums, thisoption is not available. In this embodiment, photo albums are associatedwith alpha journal entries—each album corresponds to a journal entry andis named for the alpha journal it corresponds to. In some embodiments,photo albums may also be created outside of the journal entry creationprocess.

FIG. 26 shows a My Photos View page 2600, reached for example byclicking on a photo album on the My Album View page 2500. The main boxbecomes a box 2602 named after the album selected, and shows thumbnailimages of the photos in the photo album 2604 with captions or an Add aCaption link. Comments 2606 on the photo album as a whole can be madehere as in previous figures, using the comment entry field 2608. Back toAlbum button 2610 returns to the My Album View page 2500 and AddPictures button 2612 allows a user to add additional pictures to thephoto album. In this figure, the user is viewing his or her own photoalbum—when viewing another user's photo album; the page is the same butdoes not include Add Pictures button 2612 or Add a Caption links.

FIG. 27 shows a journal photo slide show pop-up 2702, which appears whena user selects a photo thumbnail from a My Photos View page 2600. Thepop-up shows the photo selected and has left and right arrows 2708,2710, respectively, for scrolling through the other pictures in the samephoto album. Delete and edit buttons 2704, 2706 appear for a userviewing his or her own photo and allows the user to delete the photo oredit the caption.

FIG. 28 shows an Add Pictures pop-up 2801 that appears when a userselects the Add Pictures button 2612 on the My Photos View page 2600. Itis equivalent to the step of adding pictures in the journal entrycreation process. The user uploads pictures for viewing globally 2802,by friends 2804, and/or only by the user 2806. The picture files areselected with input field and browse button 2810 and selecting theupload button 2814 begins the upload, at which time the input field andbrowse button 2810 become status bar 2808 and upload button 2814 becomescancel button 2812 for canceling the upload in progress. Rating 2816allows the user to give the uploaded pictures ratings.

FIG. 29 shows a My Video Albums View page 2900, reached for example byselecting the My Videos link from the left My World box 104. My VideoAlbums box 2902 displays the user's video albums 2904 using summaryinformation such as representative still, title, date, and rating, alongwith delete buttons and edit caption buttons, which are available onlywhen the user is viewing his or her own video albums.

FIG. 30 shows a My Videos View page 3000, reached for example byselecting a video album 2904 from the My Video Albums page 2900. Themain box becomes a box 3002 named after the album selected, and showsthumbnail stills of the videos in the video album 3004 with captions orAdd a Caption links. Comments 3006 on the video album as a whole can bemade here as in previous figures, using the comment entry field 3008.Add Videos button 3012 allows a user to add additional videos to thevideo album. In this figure, the user is viewing his or her own videoalbum—when viewing another user's video album; the page is the same butdoes not include Add Videos button 3012 or Add a Caption links. Itshould be noted that when bits or comments are entered, they will beseen or viewed only according to the security level in which the initialentry was made (so a comment on a photo visible only to friends is alsovisible only to friends).

FIG. 31 shows a journal video view pop-up 3102, which appears when auser selects a video thumbnail still from a My Videos Albums View page3000. The pop-up shows the video selected and has left and right arrows3108, 3110, respectively, for scrolling through the other videos in thesame video album. Delete and edit buttons 3104, 3106 appear for a userviewing his or her own videos and allows the user to delete the video oredit the caption.

FIG. 32 shows an Add Videos pop-up 3201 that appears when a user selectsthe Add Videos button 3012 on the My Video Album View page 3000. It isequivalent to the step of adding videos in the journal entry creationprocess. The user can upload videos for viewing from the user's PC 3202or from a video sharing website 3204. The video file is selected usinginput field 3208 and browse button 3210, and a sharing level is selectedusing the Select a Sharing Level dropdown 3206 (Global, Friends,Myself). A rating is applied to the video with rating 3212 and selectingthe Add button 3214 uploads the video.

FIG. 33 shows a My Search page 3300, which displays a list of searchresults 3302, here for the search term “scuba”. This page is reached,for example, by entering a search term into the search box in the topnavigation bar 102. The user may set an option to search the Internetglobally, or only the local website. Local website search resultsinclude relevant journal entries, videos and pictures.

FIG. 34 shows a My Calendar Events home page 3400, reached for exampleby selecting the Events link in the top navigation bar 102, which has afeed 3404 of recent event activity in My Recent Calendar Events box3402. Event activity includes invitations to events sent, received andaccepted (described in FIG. 36 etc.).

FIG. 35 shows a My Event Calendar Day page 3500, reached for example byclicking on a highlighted day in the calendar box 122. Highlighted daysindicate days with activities recorded. The page 3500 shows theevents/invitations happening on the day that was clicked on in box 3502.Here, three events 3504, 3506, 3508 are shown, each having a title,time, and expand/compress button 3510. When expanded, additionalinformation 3512 about the event is displayed, such as title,description, date and time, photo of the user who posted the event, andrepresentative picture, as well as comments 3514 and Write a Commentbutton 3516 for the user to add a comment.

FIGS. 36-42 shows a My Event Creation pop-up 3602 displaying processstages bar 3604, which shows the steps in creating a My Event (enteringevent details, setting sharing level(s), uploading photos, uploadingvideos, and previewing and submitting) and the current step. Eventdetails fields 3606 allow a user to enter information such as activitydate, location, type of activity, cost, city, state, and country,weather conditions, and rating. Save & Continue button 3608 saves andcontinues to the next step. Cancel button 3610 closes the pop-up box andreturns to the page.

FIG. 37 shows the second step in the process. Here, the user chooseswhether to add information for the general public 3702, just for friends3704, and/or just for his or herself 3706 by checking the box 3708 nextto each category he or she wishes to add. When a box 3708 is checked, acorresponding text field 3710 appears for the user to input theinformation. Bullet selectors 3712 allow a user to decide whether globalinformation 3702 is shared with all the user's communities or onlyselected communities, and whether friends information 3704 is sharedwith all the user's friends or only selected friends. Back button 3714returns the user to step 1 as shown in FIG. 36, while Save & Continuebutton 3716 proceeds to the next step.

FIG. 38 shows the My Communities pop-up box 3802 that is displayed whena user indicates that the global information submitted is to be sharedonly with selected communities. A list of the user's communities 3808 isdisplayed, along with a Search Communities button 3804 for searchingthrough the communities by various criteria and an indication 3806 ofthe number of communities selected so far.

FIG. 39 shows the My Friends pop-up box 3902 that is displayed when auser indicates that the friends information submitted is to be sharedonly with selected friends. A list of the user's friends 3908 isdisplayed, along with a Search Friends button 3904 for searching throughthe friends by various criteria and an indication 3906 of the number offriends selected so far.

FIG. 40 shows the third step in the process. Here, the user uploadspictures for viewing globally 4002, by friends 4004, and/or only by theuser 4006. The picture files are selected with input field and browsebutton 4010 and selecting the upload button 4014 begins the upload, atwhich time the input field and browse button 4010 become status bar 4008and upload button 4014 becomes cancel button 4012 for canceling theupload in progress. Rating 4016 allows the user to give the uploadedpictures ratings.

FIG. 41 shows the fourth step in the process. The user can upload videosfor viewing from the user's PC 4102 or from a video sharing website4104. The video file is selected using input field 4108 and browsebutton 4110, and a sharing level is selected using the Select a SharingLevel dropdown 4106 (Global, Friends, Myself). A rating is applied tothe video with rating 4112 and selecting the Add button 4114 uploads thevideo.

FIG. 42 shows the fifth and final step in the process, where a user canpreview the event entry as it will appear to other users, using the tabs918, 920, 922 to toggle between viewers at different privacy levels, andsubmit the event entry to the website in one easy step.

FIG. 43 shows a Likes View pop-up box 4302, reached for example byclicking on the indication of the number of people who like a submissionsuch as an event. The box 4302 shows a list of members 4304 with summarydetails such as name and profile picture/avatar, and any users in thelist who are not friends of the user have an Add as a Friend button 4306next to their name, by which the user can invite them to become friends.

The processing and decision blocks in FIGS. 44-71 represent stepsperformed by functionally equivalent circuits such as a digital signalprocessor circuit or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).The flow diagrams do not depict the syntax of any particular programminglanguage. Rather, the flow diagrams illustrate the functionalinformation one of ordinary skill in the art requires to fabricatecircuits or to generate computer software to perform the processingrequired of the particular apparatus. It should be noted that manyrouting program elements, such as initialization of loops and variablesand the use of temporary variables are not shown. It will be appreciatedby those of ordinary skill in the art that unless otherwise indicatedherein, the particular sequence of steps described is illustrative onlyand can be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention.

FIG. 44 is a flowchart illustrating a login webpage process 4400, in anembodiment. An Internet user 4402 navigates to the website 4404, forexample using a browser on a PC, and the website determines 4406 whetherthe user is already a user of the website. If the user is determined tobe an existing website user, the login process is initiated 4408 and isshown in FIG. 45. If not, but the user indicated that it likes the siteand would like to try it 4410, the user is taken to the registrationprocess as shown in FIG. 46.

FIG. 45 is a flowchart illustrating a website process for logging in4500. The login process is initiated 4502 and the user chooses to loginusing a registered user ID and password for the site 4504, in which casethe user is given the opportunity to manually login 4506, or using an IDand password from a different social networking site 4508, in which casethe user is given the opportunity to login using their login credentialsfor the other social network 4510. When login is complete, feeds ofrecent activities (such as comments from other users, posted photos orvideos, upcoming events, etc.) are displayed 4512. Tabs to otherinformation are also displayed 4514. Clicking on a feed shows theactivities within the feed 4516. Options are also displayed 4518 for auser to navigate to its user profile page 4520, described in FIG. 48, aMy Journal page 4522, described in FIG. 50, a My Dream List page 4526,described in FIG. 57, a My Events page, described in FIG. 64, or anAlpha Shop page 4530, described in FIG. 71, or share a Bit 4528, asdescribed in FIG. 70.

FIG. 46 is a flowchart illustrating a website registration process 4600,in an embodiment. After the user is determined not to be a site member,but to be interested in using the site 4602, the registration process4604 begins, displaying step 1 page elements 4606. The user choosesmanual registration 4608 and manually enters a profile picture 4612 andaccount details 4616, or chooses another social network sign-in 4610,entering login details for another social network, from which a profilepicture is automatically taken 4614 as well as account details 4618.Step 2 page elements are then displayed 4620 and a user makes selections4622 of desired activities 4624 and communities 4626. Step 3 pageelements are then displayed 4628, including suggestions 4630 based onthe user's selection in Step 2. Suggestions for other website users theuser might wish to friend are displayed 4632 and, if any are selected4634, friend requests are sent 4636. Suggestions for products the usermight want to buy are displayed 4638 and, if any are selected theproducts are added 4262 to the user's wish list. An indication ofcompleted registration is then displayed 4644 and the user's profilepage is shown 4646 as described in FIG. 47.

FIG. 47 is a flowchart illustrating a website user profile page process4700, in an embodiment. The user's profile page is shown 4702 andoptions for community maintenance an account maintenance displayed 4704,4712, respectively. If community maintenance is selected, the user isgiven the option to add 4706 or remove 4710 communities to the user'slist of favorites, or search 4708 for communities. If accountmaintenance is selected, options for updating/modifying account detailsand for maintaining friends 4714, 4716 respectively, are presented. Ifthe user selects the maintain friends option, the user is given theoption to add 4718 or remove 4722 friends, to search for friends 4720,or to view friend requests 4724. When the user elects to view friendrequests, both sent requests and received requests are displayed 4726,4728, respectively.

FIG. 48 is a flowchart illustrating a process for a website back-endadministration 4800, in an embodiment. An administrative user 4802creates and maintains 4804 the website 4806 and controls 4808 whatproducts are listed for sale 4814, and what activities and communitiesare allowed 4810, 4812, respectively. The admin uses a content manager4816 to block or unblock website contents based on abuse reports or spamdeterminations.

FIG. 49 is a flowchart illustrating a website My Journal process 4900,in an embodiment. The My Journal page is displayed 4902 with options fora user to create a journal entry 4904, the process of which is describedin FIGS. 50-54, search for a journal 4908, convert a journal into adream-list entry 4912, edit/delete a journal 4910, or conduct otherjournal interactive activities 4906 such as commenting.

FIGS. 50-54 are flowcharts illustrating a website process for creating ajournal entry 5000, 5100, 5200, 5300, 5400, in an embodiment. In step 1of creating a journal entry 5000, step 1 objects are displayed 5004,including journal details 5006, which here include displaying 5008activity date, name of place/location, activity, cost incurred, country,state/province, city, climatic conditions during activity, and myjournal rating, as well as continue button 5010 which takes the user tothe next step shown in FIG. 51.

In step 2 of creating a journal entry 5100, step 2 objects are displayed5102, including a selector for the user to select individual journalsharing level(s) 5104, which here include displaying fields forgeneral/global journal information, friends journal information, andjournal information only for the user, along with options to share withall related communities or only selected communities and all friends oronly selected friends. At least one sharing level must be selected andsome information entered. There is a back button 5108 which takes theuser to the previous step in FIG. 50 and save & continue button 5110which takes the user to the next step shown in FIG. 52.

In step 3 of creating a journal entry 5200, step 3 objects are displayed5202, including a photo upload interface 5204 for the user to selectphotos to share, which here includes options for uploading pictures forsharing globally, with friends, and only with the user, and instructions5206, as well as back button 5208 which takes the user to the previousstep in FIG. 51 and save & continue button 5210 which takes the user tothe next step shown in FIG. 53.

In step 4 of creating a journal entry 5300, step 4 objects are displayed5302, including a video upload interface 5304 for the user to selectvideos to share, which here includes options for uploading videos forsharing globally, with friends, and only with the user, and instructions5306, as well as back button 5308 which takes the user to the previousstep in FIG. 52 and save & continue button 5310 which takes the user tothe next step shown in FIG. 54.

In step 5 of creating a journal entry 5400, step 5 objects are displayed5402, including a preview and submit interface 5404, which here includesoptions 5406 for previewing information shared globally, for friends,and for the user only before submission, as well as back button 5408which takes the user to the previous step in FIG. 53 and accept & submitbutton 5410 which submits the input information to the website forsharing with other users (as specified by the user's privacy settings)in one easy step.

FIG. 55 is a flowchart illustrating a website process for otherinteractive activities 5500, in an embodiment. Other journal interactiveactivities objects are displayed 5502, including. Like object 5504 for auser to indicate that they like a journal entry or element, Rate object5506 for a user to rate the journal entry or element, and Comment object5508 which allows a user to comment on a journal entry or element. Theseobjects are displayed 5510 with an entire journal, journal photo album,journal photo, journal video album, or journal video 5512.

FIG. 56 is a flowchart illustrating a website dream lists process, in anembodiment. Dreams Lists page elements are displayed 5602, which allow auser to create dream list entries 5604, conduct other dream activities5612 (described in FIG. 62), edit/delete a dream 5614, convert a dreamlist entry to a journal entry 5614, or search through dream entries5616. If the user selects to create a dream list entry, further optionsare displayed to create the entry from scratch 5606 (described in FIGS.57-61) or from another user's journal entry 5608, where an Add to MyDream List button is displayed 5610. When the user chooses to convert toa journal, the interface determines 5620 whether the current date isbefore or after the date input for the dream list entry, and if thecurrent date is before the dream list entry date 5622, it is convertedinto an event (something that is planned for the future), otherwise 5626into a journal entry (something that has already been completed).

FIGS. 57-61 are flowcharts illustrating a website process for creating adream list entry 5700, 5800, 5900, 6000, 6100, in an embodiment. In step1 of creating a dream list entry 5702, step 1 objects are displayed5704, including dream list details 5706, which here include displaying5708 activity date, name of place/location, activity, cost projected,country, state/province, city, ideal climatic conditions, and rating, aswell as continue button 5710 which takes the user to the next step shownin FIG. 58.

In step 2 of creating a dream list entry 5800, step 2 objects aredisplayed 5802, including a selector for the user to select sharinglevel(s) 5804, which here include displaying fields for general/globaldream list information, friends dream list information, and dream listinformation only for the user, along with options to share with allrelated communities or only selected communities and all friends or onlyselected friends, as well as back button 5808 which takes the user tothe previous step in FIG. 57 and save & continue button 5810 which takesthe user to the next step shown in FIG. 59.

In step 3 of creating a dream list entry 5900, step 3 objects aredisplayed 5902, including a photo upload interface 5904 for the user toselect photos to share, which here includes options for uploadingpictures for sharing globally, with friends, and only with the user, andinstructions 5906, as well as back button 5908 which takes the user tothe previous step in FIG. 58 and save & continue button 5910 which takesthe user to the next step shown in FIG. 60.

In step 4 of creating a dream list entry 6000, step 4 objects aredisplayed 6002, including a video upload interface 6004 for the user toselect videos to share, which here includes options for uploading videosfor sharing globally, with friends, and only with the user, andinstructions 6006, as well as back button 6008 which takes the user tothe previous step in FIG. 59 and save & continue button 6010 which takesthe user to the next step shown in FIG. 61. In step 5, the final step ofcreating a dream list entry 6100, step 5 objects are displayed 6102,including a preview and submit interface 6104, which here includesoptions 6106 for previewing information shared globally, for friends,and for the user only before submission, as well as back button 6108which takes the user to the previous step in FIG. 60 and accept & submitbutton 6110 which submits the input information to the website forsharing with other users (as specified by the user's privacy settings)in one easy step.

FIG. 62 is a flowchart illustrating a website process for otherinteractive activities 6200, in an embodiment. Other dream listactivities objects are displayed 6202, including Like object 6204 for auser to indicate that they like a dream list entry or element, Rateobject 6206 for a user to rate the dream list entry or element, Commentobject 6208 which allows a user to comment on a dream list entry orelement, and Transfer to Journal object 6214. Objects 6204, 6206, 6208are displayed 6210 with an entire dream entry, dream photo album, dreamphoto, dream video album, or dream video 6212. Transfer to Journalobject 6214 can be activated by clicking an I Lived It button 6216 on adream list entry.

FIG. 63 is a flowchart illustrating a website events page process 6300,in an embodiment. Events page elements are displayed 6302, includingoptions for creating an event entry 6304 (described in FIGS. 64-69), forconducting other event activities 6306 (described in FIG. 70), forediting/deleting an event 6308, for searching through events 6310, andfor converting an event into a journal entry 6312. When the user selectsto convert an event into a journal entry, the interface determines 6314whether the current date is before or after the date input for theevent, and if the current date is before the event date 6316, it isconverted into a dream list entry (something the user wants to do in thefuture), otherwise 6320 into a journal entry 6322 (something that hasalready been completed).

FIGS. 64-68 are flowcharts illustrating a website process for creatingan event entry 6400, 6500, 6600, 6700, 6800, in an embodiment. In step 1of creating an event entry 6402, step 1 objects are displayed 6404,including event details 6406, which here include displaying 6408activity date, name of place/location, activity, cost incurred, country,state/province, city, climatic conditions during activity, and rating,as well as continue button 6410 which takes the user to the next stepshown in FIG. 65.

In step 2 of creating a event entry 6500, step 2 objects are displayed6502, including a privacy selector 6504 which displays fields 6506 forgeneral/global event information, friends event information, and eventinformation only for the user, along with options to share with allrelated communities or only selected communities and all friends or onlyselected friends, as well as back button 6508 which takes the user tothe previous step in FIG. 64 and save & continue button 6510 which takesthe user to the next step shown in FIG. 66.

In step 3 of creating a event entry 6600, step 3 objects are displayed6602, including a photo upload interface 6604 for the user to selectphotos to share 6606, which here includes options for uploading picturesfor sharing globally, with friends, and only with the user, andinstructions, as well as back button 6608 which takes the user to theprevious step in FIG. 65 and save & continue button 6610 which takes theuser to the next step shown in FIG. 67.

In step 4 of creating a event entry 6700, step 4 objects are displayed6702, including a video upload interface 6704 for the user to selectvideos to share, which here includes options for uploading videos forsharing globally, with friends, and only with the user, and instructions6706, as well as back button 6708 which takes the user to the previousstep in FIG. 66 and save & continue button 6710 which takes the user tothe next step shown in FIG. 68.

In step 5 of creating a event entry 6800, step 5 objects are displayed6802, including a preview and submit interface 6804, which here includesoptions 6806 for previewing information shared globally, for friends,and for the user only before submission, as well as back button 6808which takes the user to the previous step in FIG. 67 and accept & submitbutton 6810 which submits the input information to the website forsharing with other users (as specified by the user's privacy settings)in one easy step.

FIG. 69 is a flowchart illustrating a website process for otherinteractive event activities 6900, in an embodiment. Other eventactivities objects are displayed 6902, including Like object 6904 for auser to indicate that they like a event entry or element, Rate object6906 for a user to rate the event entry or element, Comment object 6908which allows a user to comment on a event entry or element, eventrequests maintenance object 6914, and Transfer to Journal object 6920.Objects 6904, 6906, 6908 are displayed 6910 with an entire event entry,event photo album, event photo, event video album, or event video 6912.Selecting events requests maintenance 6914 displays the status ofavailable events 6916, which can be accepted, declined, tentative, or noresponse 6918. Transfer to Journal object 6920 can be activated byclicking an I Lived It button 6922 on a event entry.

FIG. 70 is a flowchart illustrating a website process for bit sharing7000, in an embodiment. The page displays options for sharing bits 7002(which are basically elements of interaction/sharing such as comments,photos, links, videos, etc.), including options for sharing a video bit7004, link bit 7006, comment bit 7008, and photo bit 7010. Aftersharing, the website displays to recipients various options 7012,including to Like the bit 7014, Rate the bit 7018, or comment on the bit7016.

FIG. 71 is a flowchart illustrating a shop website process 7100, in anembodiment. A shop page is displayed 7102 which includes options for auser to purchase 7104 or to check on an order 7106. The sales processwhen initiated begins by displaying step 1 element 7108, includingoptions for choosing a product to purchase 7110 based on suggestedproducts for that user 7112, products in the user's wish list 7114, bysearching through available products 7116, and by building a customproduct 7118. Once desired products have been selected, step 2 elementsare displayed 7120 including the option to add the selected products tothe user's cart 7122. Step 3 elements are then displayed 7124, includingfields for entering billing/shipping information 7126 and for enteringcredit card details 7128. The payment is processed 7130, if a successfulpayment is processed 7132 a sale is completed 7134 and an order iscreated and sent to the user 7136. If not 7138, an option is given totry payment again 7140.

The order checking process 7106 when selected gives the user the optionto view order history 7142, track orders 7144, and view payment history7146. Viewing payment history displays both failed payments 7148 andsuccessful payments 7150.

One embodiment of the invention is implemented as a program product foruse with a computer system such as, for example, the computingenvironment 7200 shown in FIG. 72 and described below. The program(s) ofthe program product defines functions of the embodiments (including themethods described herein) and can be contained on a variety ofsignal-bearing media. Illustrative signal-bearing media include, but arenot limited to: (i) information permanently stored on non-writablestorage media (e.g., read-only memory devices within a computer such asCD-ROM disks readable by a CD-ROM drive); (ii) alterable informationstored on writable storage media (e.g., floppy disks within a diskettedrive or hard-disk drive, solid state storage devices); and (iii)information conveyed to a computer by a communications medium, such asthrough a computer or telephone network, including wirelesscommunications. The latter embodiment specifically includes informationdownloaded from the Internet and/or other networks. Such signal-bearingmedia, when carrying computer-readable instructions that direct thefunctions of the present invention, represent embodiments of the presentinvention.

In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of theinvention, may be part of an operating system or a specific application,component, program, module, object, or sequence of instructions. Thecomputer program of the present invention typically is comprised of amultitude of instructions that will be translated by the native computerinto a machine-readable format and hence executable instructions. Also,programs are comprised of variables and data structures that eitherreside locally to the program or are found in memory or on storagedevices.

In addition, various programs described hereinafter may be identifiedbased upon the application for which they are implemented in one or morespecific embodiments of the invention. However, it should be appreciatedthat any particular program nomenclature that follows is used merely forconvenience, and thus the invention should not be limited to use solelyin any specific application identified and/or implied by suchnomenclature. In this regard, references to particular definitionallanguages, such as HTML and XML, are illustrative in nature and do notserve to limit the claims. It is broadly contemplated that the inventionis applicable regardless of the particular schema and/or language usedto define network resource content.

Turning now to FIG. 72, a block diagram illustrating an exemplarycomputing environment 7200, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention, is shown. In general, the computing environment 7200includes a client (e.g., a user's) computer 7202, and a server computer7204. The client computer 7202 and the server computer 7204 may becomponents of the same computer system or may be connected via a network7206, such as the Internet.

As shown, the client computer 7202 includes a central processing unit(CPU) 7208 connected to a memory 7210, a storage device 7212, and anetwork interface 7214 via a bus 7216. The CPU 7208 is included to berepresentative of a single CPU, multiple CPUs, a single CPU havingmultiple processing cores, and the like. The storage device 7212 storesapplication programs and data for use by the client computer 7202.Examples of the storage device 7212 include one or more hard-diskdrives, flash memory devices, optical media and the like.

The client computer 7202 may be connected to the data communicationsnetwork 7206 (e.g., a local area network, which itself may be connectedto other networks such as the internet) using the network interface7214. The memory 7210 can be one or a combination of memory devices,including random access memory, nonvolatile or backup memory (e.g.,programmable or flash memories, read-only memories, etc.).Illustratively, the memory 7210 of client computer 7202 stores anoperating system 7218 used to manage hardware and software executing onthe client computer 7202. As shown, memory 7210 also includes a browserprogram 7220 which, when executed by CPU 7208, provides support fornavigating between various servers and locating network addresses at oneor more of servers (e.g., server computer 7204).

The client computer 7202 may be connected to one or more display units7222, input devices 7224, output devices 7226 and peripheral devices7228. The display units 7222 may be internal or external monitors,television screens, handheld device displays, and the like. The inputdevices 7224 may be any one of a keyboard, mouse, track-ball, stylus,mouse pad, mouse button, joystick, scanner or the like. The outputdevices 7226 may be any one of a monitor, printer, plotter, copier orother output device. The peripheral devices 7228 may be any other devicewhich can be coupled to a computer: a CD/DVD drive capable of readingand/or writing to physical digital media, a USB device, Zip Drive,external floppy drive, external hard drive, phone and/or broadbandmodem, router/gateway, access point and/or the like.

Similar to the client computer 7202, the server computer 7204 mayinclude a CPU 7230, a memory 7232, a network interface device 7234, anda storage device 7236, coupled via a bus 7238. The memory 7232 may be arandom access memory sufficiently large to hold the necessaryprogramming and data structures that are located on the server computer7204. As shown, the memory 7232 stores an operating system 7240 used tomanage server hardware and software executing on the server computer7202. Illustratively, the memory 7232 also includes a hypertext transferprotocol (http) server 7244 configured to service requests from theclient computer 7202. For example, the http server 7244 may respond torequests for access to electronic resources (e.g., HTML documents,network information, and the like) residing on the server computer 7204.The http server 7244 may receive requests to receive user profile,journal, or other information upon a user selecting an option to view orsearch such information. In response, the http server 7244 communicateswith a software module that makes such information available for viewing(e.g., via the browser 7220) and download over the Internet. However,one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the http server7244 is merely illustrative and embodiments of the invention may beadapted to support both known and unknown protocols.

The programming and data structures of the http server 7244 may beaccessed and executed by the CPU 7230 as needed during operation. Theserver computer 7204 may connect to the network 7206 using the networkinterface device 7234 (e.g., an analog modem, a wired network card, or awireless network device).

In one embodiment, users may interact with the server computer 7204using a graphical user interface (GUI). In a particular embodiment, GUIcontent may comprise HTML documents (i.e., web pages) rendered on thedisplay unit 7222 coupled with the client computer 7202 using thebrowser 7220. In one embodiment, the web pages may include pages thatallow a user to interact with other users, store and share informationrelating to their own activities, interests and goals/dreams, searchthrough, view, and save information about other user's sharedactivities, interests and goals/dreams, search for an interact withfriends and communities, receive advertisements relating to theirinterests, activities, and goals/dreams and make purchases, etc.

The memory 7232 may further include various software modules. Thesoftware modules may comprise a software application configured toprovide the ability (e.g., via the GUI) to, for example, maintain thedatabases 7248 ₁, 7248 ₂ and/or other storage devices, process ordersand initiate distribution of purchased items, authenticate users, etc.

Accordingly, the server computer 7204 may be coupled to a plurality ofdatabases 7248 ₁, 7248 ₂ which may include a relational database 7248 ₁that is queried using an SQL query, or an XML database 7248 ₂ queriedusing an XML query. The invention, however, is not limited to anyparticular physical database storage mechanism and may readily beextended to operate on other such mechanisms, whether currently known orunknown. While the databases 7248 ₁, 7248 ₂ are illustrated as beingexternal to the server system, it is noted that the databases 7248 ₁,7248 ₂ may exist on a local storage device (e.g., storage device 7236)of the server computer 7204, or may be accessed over the network 7206.

In some embodiments, information submitted by the users is stored on anInternet server and can be accessed by users, depending on theirpermission to access such information, from any device capable ofconnecting to the Internet. Other networks in some embodiments are usedin place of the Internet for accessing the website system. In someembodiments, associated information is stored together in a relationaldatabase. For example, when a video is submitted with relateddescription, comments, location, and rating, these pieces of informationare stored in associated database fields. User profile, journal, dreamlist, and event information for example may be stored in databases 7248₁, 7248 ₂ and made available according to the settings of the user forother users to search through and view. The server computer may beconnected with an external payment authentication network to handlepayment authentication, and may similarly in some embodiments replacesoftware modules with external networks or devices that perform the samefunction.

In other embodiments, software modules and storage may be distributed ina cloud environment, rather than residing on a central server orservers.

The invention is not limited to the particular embodiments illustratedin the drawings and described above in detail. Those skilled in the artwill recognize that other arrangements could be devised, for example,using a differently configured or arranged website, or the use ofdownloadable software instead of or in addition to a website. Theinvention encompasses every possible combination of the various featuresof each embodiment disclosed. While the invention has been describedwith reference to specific illustrative embodiments, modifications andvariations of the invention may be constructed without departing fromthe scope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. An experience sharing and social networking method,comprising: receiving from a first user first information related toexperiences and/or activities; storing the first information on anon-transitory computer-readable medium and associating it with thefirst user; displaying the first information to other users;categorizing and displaying the first information in a first categoryfor experiences and/or activities indicated to have already taken place,in a second category for experiences and/or activities indicated to betaking place at a definite time in the future, and in a third categoryfor experiences and/or activities indicated not to have taken place andnot having been scheduled for any definite time in the future; andconverting the first information associated with the first user intosecond information associated with a second user in another category,and modifying or adding to the first information as part of theconversion process.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingtransmitting advertising information to the first user related to storedfirst information.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the stored firstinformation comprises multiple elements, further comprising receiving asecurity level associated with each element, wherein the security leveldictates which other users the information can be displayed to.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the second information received from theother user related to the first information is displayed only to usersthe first-information can be displayed to, as specified by theassociated security level.
 5. The method of claim 3, further comprisingreceiving an indication from two users that they desire to be associatedas friends of one another and associating the two users as friends andreceiving an indication from the user that the user desires to beassociated with a community and associating the user with the community.6. The method of claim 5, wherein the security level allows theassociated element to be displayed to either a) only the user, b) onlythe user and at least one specified friend or group of friends, c) onlythe user and the user's friends, d) only the user, the user's friends,and members of at least one specified group the user is associated with,e) only the user, the user's friends, and members of groups the user isassociated with, or f) all users.
 7. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising organizing the user's friends into groups received from theuser, wherein each of the user's friends may be members of one or moreof the groups.
 8. The method of claim 3, wherein the second informationis displayed only to a subset of the users the first information can bedisplayed to, as specified by the associated security level, wherein thesubset is received from the other user.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the first information comprises videos, photographs, comments,locations, costs, and ratings.
 10. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising receiving a user query comprising search terms and one ormore results categories and displaying stored first information relevantto terms of the query, viewable by the user, and falling under theresults categories received, wherein the search terms comprise one ormore of the following: location, type of experience or activity, cost,and rating.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising receivingadditional information from the first user indicating that at least someof the first information has moved from one category to another,re-categorizing the at least some of the first information accordingly,and modifying or adding to the first information as part of there-categorization process.
 12. An experience sharing and socialnetworking method, comprising: transmitting first information from afirst user related to an experience or activity, including the date onwhich it occurred, the date for which it is planned, or that it has notoccurred or been planned, to a central computing device over a networkfor storing and sharing with other users; viewing third informationsubmitted by one of said one or more other users pertaining to theirexperiences and activities; and viewing the third information pertainingto the other user's experience or activity on a graphical userinterface, adding or modifying the third information on the graphicaluser interface so that the third information pertains to the firstuser's own experience or activity, including whether and when theexperience or activity took place or is scheduled, and transmitting theadded or modified third information to the central computing device overa network for storing and sharing with other users.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the transmitted first information related to anexperience or activity comprises multiple elements, further comprisingtransmitting a security level associated with each element, wherein thesecurity level dictates which other users can view the firstinformation.
 14. The method of claim 12, further comprising transmittingsecond information pertaining to the other user's experience or activityfor sharing with other users.
 15. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising accepting a friend request from another user and requestingto be associated with a community.
 16. The method of claim 15, whereinthe security level allows the associated element to be displayed toeither a) only the user transmitting the associated element, b) only theuser transmitting the associated element and at least one specifiedfriend or group of friends of the user, c) only the user transmittingthe associated element and the user's friends, d) only the usertransmitting the associated element, the user's friends, and members ofat least one specified group the user is associated with, e) only theuser transmitting the associated element, the user's friends, andmembers of groups the user is associated with, or f) all users.
 17. Themethod of claim 15, further comprising organizing friends into one ormore groups, wherein each friend may be a member of one or more of thegroups.
 18. The method of claim 13, further comprising transmitting auser query comprising search terms and one or more results categoriesand receiving information submitted by another user pertaining to theother user's experience or activity related to experiences andactivities relevant to terms of the query, and falling under the resultscategories transmitted, wherein the search terms comprise one or more ofthe following: location, type of experience or activity, cost, andrating.
 19. An experience sharing and social networking system,comprising: a processor; and a memory containing software modules,which, when executed by the processor, are configured to performoperations, the operations comprising: receiving from first users firstinformation related to experiences and activities; storing the firstinformation received from first users on a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium and associating it with the first users fromwhich it was received; displaying the first information received fromfirst users to other users; categorizing and displaying the receivedfirst information related to experiences and activities in a firstcategory for experiences and activities indicated to have already takenplace, in a second category for experiences and activities indicated tobe taking place at a definite time in the future, and in a thirdcategory for experiences and activities indicated not to have takenplace and not having been scheduled for any definite time in the future;and converting the first information associated with the first user intoinformation associated with a second user in another category, andmodifying or adding to the first information as part of the conversionprocess.
 20. A computer-readable storage medium including a program,which when executed on a processor performs an operation, the operationcomprising: receiving from first users first information related toexperiences and activities; storing the first information received fromfirst users on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and associatingit with the first users from which it was received; displaying the firstinformation to other users; categorizing and displaying the firstinformation in a first category for experiences and activities indicatedto have already taken place, in a second category for experiences andactivities indicated to be taking place at a definite time in thefuture, and in a third category for experiences and activities indicatednot to have taken place and not having been scheduled for any definitetime in the future; and converting first information associated with thefirst user into second information associated with a second user inanother category, and modifying or adding to the first information aspart of the conversion process.